Learn About AWS Elemental MediaConnect for Video Transport

Learn About AWS Elemental MediaConnect for Video Transport

Leverage the power of the cloud to streamline your video transport workflows

There’s no doubt that the internet and cloud computing have created seismic shifts across the entire business world. Long ago, smaller organizations simply couldn’t compete with larger ones, often because they didn’t have the resources to build out complex computing infrastructure. This meant that large companies dominated markets, and smaller, more nimble companies simply couldn’t compete.

The cloud has literally turned this age-old business practice on its head. In fact, today thanks to cloud computing, smaller companies are often able to iterate and innovate much more quickly than large, corporate giants. One of the main reasons for this is through tools like AWS, which has allowed any company to quickly scale and roll out enterprise level infrastructure in minutes, using a pay-as-you-go pricing model.

While cloud computing has gained in popularity over the past few years, the broadcast industry has largely continued to rely on antiquated technology to distribute video feeds with partners around the world. Thanks to AWS Elemental MediaConnect, this is all about to change.

What is AWS Elemental MediaConnect?

AWS Elemental MediaConnect is a service built on the Amazon Web Services ecosystem that allows for the secure and flexible ingesting, transmitting, and replicating of live video streams. This allows both traditional broadcasters and new age content creators to easily and cost-effectively transmit their video streams to the cloud and then to partners for further distribution to multiple destinations.

MediaConnect allows users to build complex transport workflows in a short time compared to the resources required when using satellite or fiber. In addition to the time savings, it still allows customers to utilize broadcast grade quality and management, all from the cloud.

The old school way of transporting video is no longer viable

Prior to the introduction of AWS Elemental MediaConnect, broadcasters, content creators, and venues had to rely on complex fiber and satellite networks to transmit their video content into the cloud or for distribution through various partners. This approach was extremely expensive and relied on long-term contracts that would take significant time to set up. This reduced the flexibility that was often needed based on changing requirements as well as new opportunities.

How is MediaConnect changing the way companies distribute video all over the world?

Thanks to MediaConnect, content creators can leverage the flexibility of the cloud to ingest live video from a remote site, share that video with a partner, or replicate the live stream for processing through an OTT (over-the-top) video service. Transport workflows can be quickly and easily built on demand and changed at any moment. Furthermore, AWS Elemental MediaConnect is a fully managed service, which means that customers only pay for the bandwidth and infrastructure that they use at any given time.

Large organizations are taking notice of the new AWS service, and so should you

While AWS Elemental MediaConnect offers an amazing way for growing organizations to utilize the cloud to transport high-quality video to partners around the world, large companies are also beginning to take notice as well. Large networks such as Discovery, PAC12 and U.K. based Arqiva, are all beginning to use MediaConnect to expand their reach and more cost-effectively distribute live video content across all major platforms, whether that be through traditional television networks, mobile devices, or OTT.

MediaConnect supports a variety of video protocols and is available worldwide

AWS Elemental MediaConnect currently supports a wide array of standard video protocols including RTP, Zixi, and RTP with forwarding error correction. It is currently available in the following datacenters:

US East (Northern Virginia)

US West (Oregon or Northern California)

EU (Frankfurt & Ireland)

Asia Pacific (Singapore, Sydney or Tokyo)

Amazon is also planning to expand MediaConnect into additional regions over the coming months.

Additional AWS Elemental MediaConnect features to keep in mind

If you’re looking to leverage the full value of the new service, be sure to keep the following features in mind:

Replication can be completed for both internal and external targets

AES-256 encryption is used to protect data in transit, all managed by AWS Secrets Manager

Quality of Service (QoS) alarms and real-time telemetry data is fully accessible in addition to full integration with Amazon CloudWatch and Media Services, allowing customers to easily create custom dashboards to keep track of all types of key analytics

Ready to give AWS Elemental MediaConnect a try?

If you’re still relying on complex and expensive satellite and fiber connections to transfer video content, it’s likely time to take a look at AWS Elemental MediaConnect. By utilizing the cloud, customers can cut down significantly on both the complexity and cost of their video distribution workflows. To learn more about Elemental, reach out to CloudHesive today by phone at 800-860-2040 or through our online contact form.